Potato production in the Northwest was strong in 2019, and the outlook for 2020 looks similar, said Chris Voigt, executive director of the Moses Lake-based Washington State Potato Commission.
“We had a good harvest of the 2019 crop, great quality, strong yields, and strong pricing for our growers and shippers,” he said.
Washington and Oregon rank second and third, respectively, among the 50 states in potato production, with processing accounting for as much as 90% of production.
Demand has been strong, for both processed and fresh product, Voigt said.
“The export market to the Pacific Rim has been strong, and it has been a struggle for us to keep up with demand, both for fresh and processed potato products,” Voigt said.
“We’ve seen other countries and regions sweep in to take market share away from us as demand for our potatoes was outstripping our supply.”
Growing conditions for the 2020 crop have been “outstanding — not too hot, not too cold,” Voigt said.
“We do have a higher-than-normal presence of beet leaf hoppers, which is an insect that can transmit a disease called purple top, which can affect yield,” Voigt said.
However, he said the commission can track insect populations and movement throughout the Columbia Basin.
“This is valuable information for our IPM programs,” he said.
The ongoing pandemic of the new coronavirus COVID-19 remained perhaps the top concern across the industry, said Gary Roth, executive director of the Portland-based Oregon Potato Commission.
COVID problems
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“We have more acres going into production, particularly in the Columbia Basin; it was predicted to moderately increase last year, and then COVID-19 hit and that disrupted domestic markets and international markets.”
Foodservice demand plummeted, Roth said.
“I’d say 80-85% of what Oregon grows goes to processing, and the pullback in the foodservice market has affected all potato growers in the Northwest and the nation,” he said.
“Going into the spring of 2020, we saw processors reducing contracts for 2020, anywhere on average from 15-20% — sometimes less and sometimes more.
“That has been the focus on the industry — how to a) manage the 2019 supply that was in stock, and b) for growers to manage their individual enterprises so their farms hopefully can remain solvent.
That’s impacted Oregon more or less statewide, because if you’re not a process grower, you’re a seed grower.”
Drought woes
In southern Oregon, drought has been perhaps a more dominant concern, Roth said.
“They have some pretty serious water issues,” he said.
So serious that growers have had to shift production to land parcels that qualify for larger water allocations, said Terry Guthrie, owner of Klamath Falls-based Riverside Potato.
“There’s no snowpack, and we’re not getting any rain,” he said, noting that normal irrigation of 300,000 to 330,000 acre feet of water has been cut to 140,000.
“That figure is not out yet, but our assumption is we’ll probably be down 30-35% in potato acreage in the valley,” Guthrie said.
“We’re just finishing up planting. It’s definitely going to be down.”
Guthrie said he will pack product from 200-250 acres this year, compared to 550-580 a year ago.
“Water has been a problem every year, but we got by because everybody diligently watched everything they were doing, but this year, we’re short, and it’s bad. Usually, we have snowpack and there is none this year.”
There’s not much to do but cut back, Guthrie said.
“Everybody buckles down and moves on and prays for snow next winter; that’s all you can do,” he said.
“You plant potatoes where you can. There’s a lot more well water used in a year like this. Without that, we’d be in severe trouble.”
Drought conditions were worse than any since 2006, said Ron Settlemire, sales manager with Klamath Falls, Ore.-based Wong Potatoes Inc.
“Thank goodness the water board agreed to our initial water allocation; we didn’t plant as much this year in anticipation of having as much,” he said. “It’s been probably close to a month since we had any good rain.”
Wells and acreage cutbacks are the best ways to fight back, he said.
“This past season, we planted over 900 acres; this year, we have a little over 600 acres,” he said. “That’s all you can safely do.”
Acreage down
Further north, in the Columbia Basin, along the Washington-Oregon border, rainfall wasn’t a problem, but acreage likely will be down, said Larry Sieg, Washington manager with Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Potandon Produce.
“The fresh deal, basically, is going to be down — it might be up slightly in August, but in September and October, the storage crop definitely will not be up,” he said.
In Northwest Washington, growers have dealt with too much rain, said Tony Wisom, founder/CEO of Burlington, Wash.-based Valley Pride Sales LLC.
“This year, the spring has been a bit challenging for us here in Northwest Washington,” he said.
“It’s been quite wet. We got our entire crop in on schedule thanks to excellent farm management and a fantastically dedicated team. It’s been tricky to cultivate and hill our potatoes on time, but overall the growing conditions are awesome. The plants are growing nicely and the tubers under the ground look as exceptional as always. Skin color and quality is great at this point.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington production in 2019 totaled 11.6 million pounds, compared to 11.3 million in 2018. Potatoes in storage accounted for 17% of 2019 production, compared to 18% a year earlier.
Oregon production in 2019 totaled 2.82 million pounds, compared to 3.02 million in 2019. Potatoes in storage accounted for 14%, unchanged from the previous year.
Northwest region potato stocks on June 1, 2020, totaled 5.3 billion pounds.
June 1 potato stocks in Oregon totaled 403 million pounds. Disappearance to date was 2.41 billion pounds. In Washington, June 1 potato stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds. Disappearance to date totaled 85.6 million cwt., or 9.6 billion pounds, the USDA reported.
Nationally, the 13 major potato states held 7.5 billion pounds on June 1, 2020, down 4% from last year.
Potatoes in storage accounted for 16% of the states’ 2019 production, compared with 17% for a year earlier.
“It was a great marketing year for our growers and shippers due to an overall reduction in U.S. potato production, mostly from poor harvesting conditions in other parts of the country,” Voigt said.
“Then, COVID hit and it rocked our world, but not in a good way.”
Normal start
Growing conditions have been good, Potandon’s Sieg said.
“There’s been some wind damage and some scattered hail, but overall pretty nice growing conditions, very medium temperatures,” he said.
Digging likely would begin in the last week of July, which would be normal timing, Sieg said.
“We go out of the field from the last week of July and August,” he said.
“After Labor Day, they start putting some in storage and still pack out of the field. We’ll pack out of the field until Oct. 10. We’ll finish on a Friday, packing old crop, and start a new crop Monday or Tuesday and continue on with the crop out of the field. Then, we switch into storage and continue to the next July.”
Dan Strebin, co-owner of Gresham, Ore.-based South Basin Packing and Strebin Farms, said the crop was progressing well.
“Things are moving along kind of normal, or what is the new normal,” he said.
“Retail, I’d say it’s as normal as it was a year ago. And foodservice is certainly down. I think people are consuming what they hoarded.”
Foodservice sales still lagged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Strebin said.
“It seems to be coming back, but not necessarily on the potato side — I do recognize it’s starting to change in the onion world, but it’s only in the infancy of the areas of the country opening up.”
Acreage in the Skagit Valley, whose season will start around Sept. 1, appeared to be about normal, said Myron Ayers, sales manager with Mount Vernon, Wash.-based Norm Nelson Inc., also known as Double-N Potatoes.
“We think acreage are going to be about the same,” he said.
“We’ve found white demand is softening, so maybe there’s a hair less demand for whites. Others are steady. We think it’s going to be a bumper crop with great market — farmer’s optimism talking.”
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